Wednesday, March 30, 2011

DE bench

start of new bench cycle

DE bench against doubled monster minis
9x3x255

4 board comp grip
365x3
455x3
495x2+1 i think i couldve ground it out, but bennett didnt want me to struggle too much

db bench
2x10x100

db standing military super set with face pulls
3x10x50
3x10xmonster mini each hand

Monday, March 28, 2011

deads

got some ideas for the training cycle. one of which is to rotate deadlift variations mondays

ME deficit pulls
worked up to 315x5 sumo, still light but a PR nonetheless
conventional 365x5 might be a PR, felt like 405 wouldve gone but i opted against it to be conservative

lat pull downs with bicycle handle
8,7,8 was supposed to be 8,7,6 but i felt good on the last set with the stack

seated GMs like tates video but not nearly as badass
135x8
2x8x225

seated band hamstring curls superset with band hip outs
green band 3x20 with feet together
monster mini 3x20 with a 5 second hold after every 5 reps

neutral grip pull ups
5,5,5 wide, medium, narrow
5,5,4.8 wide, medium, narrow

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sunday Upper Accessory

First week of real training since the meet. Using 5/3/1 this time around, as it will allow me to adapt my loads as I diet down over the next 4 weeks.

Using an estimated max of 275, and a training max of .9*275 = 250....

Close Grip Incline Bench - 185x5, 200x5, 215x10 (3x5 @75,80,85%)
Wide Parallel Lat Pulls - 165x15,12,9 (strict form)
JM's - 145x9,7,5
Close Grip Parallel lat pulls - 150x40 (Giant Set)
DB Rockers  - 50x15,12,8

Done.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Makeshift Squat session in hotel

So im in Chicago for the weekend, hanging out with Meg as she visits law schools. Had to morning to myself and decided to make myself sore. I seem to have become pretty adept at that.

The hotel gym had 50 lb dumbbells....

DB Squats supersetted with DB RDL's supersetted with DB lunges....3 rounds of 20,15,10 reps on each movement. Today I woke up and was sore as shit. Mission accomplished.

ME bench

new training cycle began today, creatine free too

ME floor press
worked up to 395x3 (PR)

JMs
225x10
245x10 (PR)

inverted rows
BWx10
10x10
25x10
45x10

cable tris
stackx8
stack+25x8 x 2 sets
nice quick lift today, surprisingly feel great today despite all the dumb volume work. looking forward to the training cycle

Friday, March 25, 2011

revelation squat day

i realized a few things today. one: the circuit that i did wednesday was not the dumbest thing ive done lately, it was the second dumbest. two: i am not in very good shape (evident by the circuit), but i am not in awful shape (evident by today).

inspired by the chuck V interview that came out recently we decided to squat a marathon

raw cambered bar squat to a parallel box
forty sets of two (to show that its not a typo) x 315
bennett wanted to stop at thirty sets, but i wanted to keep going, then he got fired up and i conceded at 40 because my head was pounding, it was taking over an hour, and i was getting close to the end

shrugs with some contraption
315x8 for a few sets

low back is rocked, time to do something smart tomorrow and no high rep work. the plan is start training toward a meet in may. im not 100% sure that ill do it but id like to have the option. so the next 3-4 weeks will be all raw training, then moving into the gear again. im excited to get my geared squat up over 700 again.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

10 Weeks Post-Op X-Ray / Diet Banter

Went to the orthopedic surgeon again on Monday for my (hopefully) last appointment. He put me through all the ROM stuff and said it was good. Asked if it hurt through all the ROM as well as being tender to the touch and the answer to all was yes. He was a little perplexed. Said he wanted to take an xray just to make sure it was good to go. Three snaps of the xray, three minutes and 300 dollars later (thanks shitty PPO insurance), he concluded that it was "perfect" and that I probably just needed more time. Said if I wasn't 100% full go with loads by May, something is up. So, we wait....and wait.....and wait.

Talked to Roy about diet the other day. We concluded that I eat pretty clean, but there were still some issues. Namely omega 3 to 6 ratio and fiber intake. We went through a typical day of food for me and he estimated that my omega 6:3 ratio is something like 15-20:1 judging the fat sources I have. The "accepted" ratio for legit health is somewhere around 2:1. I've read this before and I guess I never really thought it would become an issue for me due to the "cleanliness" of my diet.

I made a spreadsheet (cause I'm a nerd like that) laying out omega 3 and 6 consumption by meal for a typical day of eating. Turns out I'm somewhere between 10-15:1, even taking 2 fish oil caps a day, which is still not good.

If you don't know, the whole big deal with the ratio balancing all comes down to inflammation. Get more O6 and you get more inflammation. Could be a huge reason I was feeling like death for so long last year? Tons of fat intake from nuts/olive oil (still O6 heavy) jacked my omega 6 levels through the roof. Either way, I think my body has some inflammatory/allergy problem, but the diet was just perpetuating it with the joint pain and whatnot.

Anyways, I bought some ground up flax seeds in bulk (there's a sweet store by me called Henry's) and am throwing them into my blender shakes as well as taking 10 fish oil caps a day. This brings my ratio to somewhere between 2-4:1, which is close enough. Roy and I both think my surgical shoulder has been being a bitch because of the level of inflammation my body is generating. With a better balance, the shoulder should finally start to mender, at least quicker.

Give it a shot for a few days, load the fish oil. and see how you feel. Can't hurt.

Welcome to my spine

WTF Bench

I always do dumb shit the week after a meet. Today was no exception.

Bench - 275x16 (3 rep PR actually, lol)
Underhand EZ Bar Row, standing on block - 205x10,8,6
DB Bench - 80's x 30!!!
Lat Pulldown  - 150x10, 180x10
Flies - 40x20

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

"deload" bench

felt like hitting a rep pr today

bench
315x14, 15 probably wouldve gone had i been really fresh

circuit because i thought i wanted to get in shape: done pretty much back to back, each for 45 seconds
db incline: 60's
standing military db with hammer curl: 30's
pushups
db cleans: 30's

again through with same weights but no pushups and for 30 seconds

back raise
BW x 30 this left me super pumped, walk to the car sucked

BW is already down to 275

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Deads - 1st Week since meet

Sumo Deads, hook grip, nb - 315x2x4
Back Raises - BWx2x20
Hip Thrusts - 135x8,225x8

Going to work on my sumo form for the next mesocycle. Will also be using a hook grip, going to give it a solid try and see if i can make it work.

Monday, March 21, 2011

meet vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFg0GkAu8Y&feature=player_embedded

my dad got the squats and benches on film, but had to take off before the deads

Deads

this week will be somewhat of a slightly higher intensity deload. im feeling a little beat up from the meet and bennett is beat up from maxing out against schwab

raw deads off about 2 inches of rubber mats
225x2,2 (conv/sumo)
315x2,2x6--> sumo sets were done with a belt, conventional were not

bent rows with fat grips
135x8
135x15x3 sets

lat pull downs
2x12

"reverse hyper"
1x10xBW

seated hamstring curls with single mini band
2x30 per leg

pretty tired, but its time to get back to the real world after thoroughly enjoying my time at home with my family, meghan, and my friends

Sunday, March 20, 2011

quick meet recap

overall quite pleased with the day. training leading up to the meet was productive and effective.

weighed in at 269 friday morning, weighed 285 or so before bed. in other words a successful bloat

squat (belt and knee wraps)
warmups all felt good even though i couldnt really do my full usual warm up due to taking turns on the monolift, but 475x1 for my last warm up with lighter wraps moved quickly
opener: 505--> good, 3 whites i think, slow at the lockout a little
second: 528 (i think)-->good and a PR, also 3 whites, moved faster than the opener all the way through to completion
third: 551--> smoked it, but i guess i was just a little too high so no go, im not bitter since the meet was judged fairly consistently and fairly for the most part

bench (2-ply F6)
started warming up early to make sure i could get all my usual sets in and didnt want to risk tweaking my pec. shirt was fitting really tight which can be attributed to the bloat
all warm up sets moved fast and easy
opener: 576--> good, took some time to get to the chest, but it flew up
second: 606-->good (3 whites) flew up fast, heard some small pops and thought i blew some stitching on the shirt, but couldnt see anything obvious. then my left tricep started to get pretty sore.
third: 628-->good (2 whites) little tough, but moved quick, this is the most ive taken to the chest ever. very pleased with this since it was a huge PR and the focus of the meet

deadlift: (belt)
was originally planning on just doing a token pull of 315 to complete the meet, but changed my opener to 405, still a token pull and doesnt take much of a warm up to get ready for it. so i started early and was done early and got cold early.
opener: 405-->good 3 whites no problem
second: 505--> good, 3 whites no problem, was pretty happy considering i was cold and hadnt pulled anything over 315 in the past month or so
third: passed to save my back for training coming up

so again, pretty happy overall. got some nice video and pictures thanks to my dad and it should be posted on youtube and facebook soon

Friday, March 18, 2011

More Info

So been going through the "rehab" thing with Roy and have gotten a lot of good stuff from this. Yesterday I found out I'd been doing rows completely wrong, that is to say I've been using my upper traps as the primary movers for years. I'm sure Igor can speak to this, but I really had to concentrate on pulling down. Roy tells me to think about pulling my shoulders down away from my ears (scap depression). The goal is to involve the lower traps, rhomboids, serratus, blah blah.

We also found that some stuff on my left side adjacent to my thoracic vertebrae is locking up, so had gave me a super ball to lay on. Sat on it for a few mins and it released a bit. Then Roy used that thing on my pec...ouch...tender to the touch today.

Glute max isn't firing correctly and my femurs are internally rotating. Worked on single leg BW box squats and sumo BW squats for glute max recruitment.

My right ankle continues to have mobility problems (sprained this one around 10-15 times starting in HS) so he took the rolling stick to my right calf all the way down to the Achilles area. Easily the most painful thing I've experienced in a long time. There was about a golf ball size part that was lit the fuck up; I mean, I had to grab onto the table, writhing. I did leave a PR sweat stain on the table, so that's good.

We looked my ankle a bit more and he told me it looked like I've jacked the ligaments pretty good over time. He said it looked like they were for sure pulled away from the bone or some may have been torn completely, he can't exactly tell, but there is a gaping void there. Bad news is that ligaments plastically deform and there's nothing I can do to get them back to normal, but its not the end of the world.

Also found out that externally rotating the humerus during a press (pussy push up in my case right now) locks the scapulae into a normal position, thus opening up the joint space to a nominal condition. The long short is that it takes away almost all the shoulder pain.

Back is feeling okay, but I haven't loaded it in a while, so jury is still out. Surgical shoulder is improving very slowly. The biceps tendon the left shoulder is letting up a bit too. Progress is progress.

That's all, I'll post again when I find out more interesting shit.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

last day in the gym before the meet

wanted to get in and do my warmups for squat and bench and get joel to practice wrapping knees, setting the shirt, and handing off my attempts.

squat
bar x 10
dynamic warmup
bar x 5
135x8
135x4 wider
225x5
225x4 wider
315x1
315x1 wider with belt
405x1
add blue knee wraps
455x1
add black knee wraps for practice
475x1

bench
bar x 15
95x10
135x8
185x6
225x4
275x3
315x3
add shirt
455 x half rep
495x 2 about a third of the way down, didnt have any boards

handoffs
575x1
605x1
645x1

raw bench to get blood moving
315x10 easy

ready to kick ass

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Good day 1

Took "Assault" pre-workout BS that I got at Arnold. Felt great.

Incline
185x5
205x5
225x5
195x6
185x6
185x5

Lat Pulldown, parallel grip
180x10
200x8
200x8

Flat DB, parallel grip
70x10
85x8
85x9

Rock n Rollers or w/e
40x2x12, 45x12, 40x12

fin

Friday, March 11, 2011

taper squat

trained out at the beach again

cambered bar squats to a box
raw
up to 315x3
add single ply king straps down
405x2
3x4x405
raw again
2x10x225

deads with the cambered bar so it was like rack pulls
sumo 225x10
conventional 225x10

db shrugs
130x10
150x10

hanging leg raises
2x10ish

tomorrow ill be working toward charley sheen level, not quite 7 g rocks but 1g should tide me over

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Last Training Sessions

Won't bother posting too much about these last sessions. They mostly consist or 1 or 2 reps on the main movement, using 85-88% weights. No real accessory work is done.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

No lifting...

Fellas, these have been trying times for me. I haven't touched a weight in around 4 weeks.

I've been working with a "therapist" (for lack of a better term) on my obviously complete kinetic chain dysfunction. Evidenced by my chronic back/SI problems, right shoulder surgical intervention and left one getting there as well.

My assessment (as per Roy):

- Rotated pelvis and lateral tilt (counterclockwise)
As a compensation...
- Rotated shoulder girdle (clockwise)
- Loss of internal leg rotation
- Kyphotic posture, rounded shoulders
- Grossly upper trap dominant
As a result...
- Dysfunctional scapulae/shoulder girdle movement patterns


As a result:

- Essentially locked up T-spine (loss of rotation and extension)
- Locked up hips (rotators)
- Compensation for mobility loss in SI joints, lumbar spine (BAD)

So, clearly I have issues in multiple planes of movement and the fix will take an extended period, I would assume. The good news is that focusing on the major things (T-spine mobility, strengthening the hip stabilizers/rotators should produce a huge improvement along the entire chain).

For now, I'm focusing on bullshit movements (clam shells, glute bridges, bird dogs, t-spine rotations) to both activate dormant movers and increase mobility. It sucks, but if this is what it takes, I'm all for it. It certainly will be much longer road back than I had originally thought, but it will happen.

We were also discussing my surgical shoulder and he told me to put my fingers on the ac joint space with my scapula "packed" down and back, then he told me to release it and go into my normal posture. Sure enough, the normal space between the clavicle and the acromium closed to nothing. This all means that the injury and consequent surgery could have been avoided had I taken the proper precautions from the get go.

Really makes you wonder....what patterns have you developed that are time bombs waiting to go off?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

taper bench

went a day early today for whatever reason bennett wanted to

floor press
225x10
275x15 barely winded

hammer curl to a neutral grip standing db military press, its a dumb description so i will refer to these as dumb db work from now on
dumb db work
3x10x40

green band tri extensions
100 reps total over a few sets

BW inverted rows
3x10

felt super pumped today, looking forward to the meet



Monday, March 7, 2011

DE day taper

nothing crazy this week

deads, full range
6x1x315 alternating sumo and conventional

zerchers to low box
135x10
225x10

lat pull downs, narrow grip
3x10ish, wasnt really counting

"reverse hypers"
3x10xBW

pullups
BW x 13 or 14 ill take that as a pseudo PR since i weighed in at 277 today

almost there

Squat Taper #1

Squat, low bar, belt - 505x2x1
Cam Bar Squat, no belt - 315x3, 345x3, 365x3, 405x1

Sunday, March 6, 2011

ME shirt work

last session in the shirt before the meet

raw warmup to
365x1
add shirt
455 for half rep
2-board
495x2
1-board
575x2
2-board
605x2 (speed work)
635x2 (speed work)

very pleased with how fast the weight moved. we trained out by bennetts house at a worlds gym and had a few precarious handoffs but it was a solid training day

raw close grip bench off the foam roller, plus a chain per side all doubled over itself
315x6
365x6

DB slight incline bench
150x4 (had to get 2 to get a free lunch)
130x4

cable tris
3x15

band pull aparts
3x15 with light band

donezo

so since i got the 150s for reps bennett bought me lunch at a pub across the street from the gym. we wound up staying there for 5 or 6 hours, ate 2 meals and had some beers. afterwards we came back to my side of town and went to a gentlemans club. now i need to study

Friday, March 4, 2011

squats

think i need a week or so off from squats

all raw
warm up to 405x2 or 3
add light wraps
455x2
475x1
add thick wraps
475x2-->this was harder than i would have liked, decided to stop there

rack pulls (bar just below knee)
405x5
455x5

improvised reverse hyper, layed the opposite way on the GHR and grabbed the foot plate, put dumbbell between my ankles
BWx10
45x10
80x10

hip work
3x20 with 20 second sustained hold on last rep

abs
3x10

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

DE bench

pretty fired up today due to the joys of daily life

DE bench
6x2x295 these all felt very fast, i was pleased
375x1 fast
405x1 slower, but still pretty quick

JMs
2x8x225 easy

steep incline DB bench neutral grip
3x6x100

face pulls
3-4x8 heavy

700/wk, bw: 272 post workout, feeling pretty amped up for this meet

Peak Bench

Bench - 355x1 Paused, 375x1 Paused (all time PR), 315x3 Paused
CSR - 4x10
DB Bench - 130's x 11, 140's x 6
Rear Delts - 3x10
DB Flies - 50x10, 60x10

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Peak Pull

Deads, belt, normal height - 565x1, 585x1
These were tough but smooth.
Abs
RDL, no belt - 405x5, 315x5
Abs
Back Raises - 110x10,8 (tucked under chin)